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User blog:Bane7670/Short Fiction: Plan of Attack
The best way to plan is to plan on improvising. : —Corellian saying Part I A briefing given with confidence, loaded state-of-the-art weapons, encouragement from the Jedi generals, and even a quick staging procedure gave soldiers everything they needed to go into battle with their heads held high. Not that any or all of those things combined guaranteed confidence, much less success. It helped a bit, but the familiar possibility of being killed without a moment's notice had a tendency of taking precedence in one's thinking. The clones had accepted that since the day they began their intensive training, which was around when they were two years old. They always went into battle with confidence and willingness to give their lives for their cause. More often than not, they were spirited fighters. It was more than Lawen Austin could sometimes say of the non-clone recruits. Austin double-checked the level of water in his canteen as he passed by the line of troops standing in neat rows on the outer deck of the outpost with stiff salutes. He could see all of their faces in Geonosis’s early morning light, but he didn't need to in order to distinguish between clones and recruits. The clones were sporting their armor as usual, adorned with the scarlet markings of the 968th, while the recruits were outfitted in their own uniforms, tan and brown fatigues covered with armor plating and ammunition slots. They stood out when serving with the clones, and not just in their equipment. The various mixtures of excitement, adrenaline and fear in their eyes was what set them apart in Austin's mind. Leftovers of General Murge Tallav's non-clone units, the recruits had their own respective views on war and some of them probably had families. Austin hoped that Tallav’s war-mongering and glory-seeking leadership didn’t carry over to his men. They knew the true cost of arrogance on the battlefield. Austin was willing to bet that some of them had first-hand experience with that. He placed his canteen back on his belt and checked the ammo in his sidearm as he approached the center of the staging area. Clone Commander Brig was waiting for him besides the tactical display, giving him a far less nervous salute. "Brig," Austin greeted a few steps from where the officer stood, feeling comfort with a familiar face. "This is everyone?" "Yes, colonel," he answered, hitting a control on the display. "And the briefing is prepared." "Good," Austin said, looking over the small display controls and finding the right buttons. He lifted his head and got a full look at the size of their force. Eight platoons; two companies. The clones far outnumbered the recruits, but it was a united force nonetheless. They all knew what they were doing there. They were trained and ready. “Gentlemen,” he began, deciding to take the straight-forward approach. “Our objective is to clear out a Geonosian artillery position in the west.” As he spoke, a hologram of the position came up before the troops. It was a simple installation made up of gunnery posts built into a small cliffside, not nearly as massive as the fortress walls around Point Rain. “As you know, Akk Sector is one of the few remaining territories on Geonosis that the Separatists still have complete control of. It is also the most heavily fortified territory, after Poggle the Lesser’s factory. This position is part of Akk Sector’s outer defenses.” Austin hit a control, and the position’s many weapon emplacements were highlighted in red. He heard a discreet stir from within the ranks of recruits. “Several repeating blaster nests, most of them concentrated right here.” He indicated the place on the hologram with two fingers. “Additionally, it has cover fire from a few proton cannons positioned further away. We must take this position so that the Two-Hundred-Twelfth can access the sector.” Brig took a step forward, on cue. “General Mundi’s forces are holding off the Droids in the south, so enemy reinforcements shouldn’t be a problem.” He hit another control that widened the holographic display’s field of view. “This ridge is not hostile terrain, but be ready to encounter any obstacles the enemy may have placed along our advance route.” “Sir,” a non-clone lieutenant—Ryben, if Austin remembered correctly—said officially. “Will we have any cover on our advance route?” Austin expected that to be raised by a recruit. The clones probably figured that information would come later on. Brig apparently saw it coming as well. “Tanks of the Forty-Sixth Battalion will be moving in just behind our landing zone,” he explained. “They’ll help thin out the enemy firepower. In addition, Ghost Company will be landing to back us up as soon as the larger guns have been disabled.” Austin nodded reflexively and waited a few seconds for any further questions before continuing. “We’ll deploy in groups of eighteen—that’s two squads per gunboat. We advance directly towards the first barrier and take out their smaller emplacements. Let the armor handle the larger targets.” He hadn’t even gotten into the details of the strategy and already there were murmurs lingering among the recruits. Murmurs and nervous glances to others. Brig gave Austin a brief look of annoyance, to which Austin responded with a subtle head shake. “Some of these obstacles might be treacherous,” Austin continued, eyeing Brig a moment longer. “So I want engineers at the ready at all times. We’re advancing on the wall in our gunboat groups and we regroup once the Two-Hundred-Twelfth arrive. Also, I want flamethrowers to stay towards the rear until we are able to scale the cliff.” There weren’t any other whispers for the rest of the briefing, but the atmosphere they created remained. The plan was simple, strategically speaking. It was a textbook battle, which was why the recruits and especially the clones didn’t raise any objections to their orders. The clones would never do so anyway unless there was a better option available. In this case, there wasn’t, which was precisely why the recruits were on edge. Austin himself wasn’t pleased with the circumstances. Frontal assault was not his strategy of choice, in no small part because it told him beforehand how bad the casualties would be. Not to mention the Geonosian warriors were a lousy opponent to launch it against. He couldn’t imagine any soldier preferred such combat on any planet, clone or not. But there was no other option. The Republic needed to get boots in Akk Sector before the Bugs could crank out another batch of Droids to reinforce it. The artillery position Austin had been assigned was the perfect place to start. The men just had to keep that in mind. “Remember,” Austin added at the conclusion. “We take this post, we open up Akk Sector to the Republic. We take Akk Sector, we’re one step closer to taking back Geonosis. Are we clear?” A resounding “Sir, yes sir!” was their reply. Austin hoped that it gave them as much confidence as it gave him. “Very good. Report to your transports. We dust off in five. Dismissed.” Austin and Brig had walked perhaps twenty meters past the outpost gates, on a path separate from the platoons, when Brig finally spoke up. “Permission to speak freely, colonel,” he requested, keeping his eyes forward. Austin exhaled. “Granted.” “I’m not sure a lot of these guys know what they’re doing,” he said plainly. “You saw how they reacted.” “They’re only nervous, commander,” Austin replied, watching the gunboats being prepped near Point Rain just ahead of them. “And they have just reason to be. We’re charging into a blast zone and taking a heavily fortified installation. You know what that’s like.” “So does the rest of Gauntlet Company,” Brig answered, sideways glancing at him. “But I didn’t see half of the looks from them that I got from Tallav’s grunts.” “Tallav’s grunts may not have been on Sarapin with you, but they’re just as trained—physically and mentally—for combat as Gauntlet is.” “Yes, sir,” Brig conceded, facing forward again. Austin reared back. He had allowed him to speak freely. “They’re able and ready. They just haven’t experienced something quite like this,” he explained, hoping he was right. “They’ve only heard stories from their comrades about it, one of which I’m certain is about Jabiim.” “I suppose so, sir,” Brig said, sliding his helmet into place as they reached the gunboat staging area. “Either way, we’re about to see how much they learned from it.” Austin refrained from saying anything else and let the commander walk ahead towards the arms station. He turned to his own gunboat and stood next to the troop deployment ramp as the platoons collected their weapons. Regardless of how well the recruits performed, he knew his men would pull through. They always did. The two squads assigned to his transport approached two minutes later. Bowler was at the front of the group, toting his deece in one hand and his helmet in the other. “All set?” Austin asked unnecessarily. “Yes, sir,” Bowler replied. “We’re all ready to give Poggle a good gutpunch.” The clones and recruits around him smiled at the remark. Though there was still plenty of unease in their eyes, any levity was welcome. “Let’s go then.” Austin scanned over the squads once, then walked up the ramp into the gunboat. The journey was spent in deafening silence, besides the hum of the gunboat’s engines as it glided low over the plains, which didn’t mean the troops weren’t restless. The clones tinkered with their weapons and the recruits were either doing the same, looking at holos—of whom Austin presumed were their loved ones—or standing completely rigid, facing forward. Austin had hoped that the clones would engage in even a little conversation like they did in the barracks. But even they knew what they were up against. Still, their readiness counted for something. Some of the recruits jumped when the pilot’s voice came over the speaker. “Approaching target; thirty seconds.” The cabin light went red as he spoke. “Stand clear.” Cannon fire became audible within moments; the first near-miss rattled the cabin. Austin unscrewed the cap of his canteen and lifted it to his mouth, taking a swig to refresh his suddenly dry mouth. He then realized just how tense he was himself. Some direction would work nicely at that point. “You all know the layout,” he said, locking in a strictly tactical mindset. “We’ve got the Forty-Sixth and the Two-Hundred-Twelfth right behind us. Once we’re out there, move fast and take out those small arms.” Blasters brandished throughout the cabin as the gunboat descended towards their landing zone. Austin drew his own pistol and primed it. The same thoughts recurred through his mind. It was just another mission. He knew the terrain, he knew the plan, and he’d done this before. His men knew what they were doing. They could succeed. They knew— Austin’s line of thought was broken when an unusual sound came from the cabin. He looked down the line in time to see one of the recruits vomit on the deck, almost on the boots of his comrades. No one else even glanced at him, and Austin didn’t blame them. The sight of it made his own stomach churn. He glanced at Bowler, who kept his expression neutral. “Buckets,” Bowler said as he put his helmet on. The rest of the clones followed suit. Those with backpacks or mortars secured them on their armor. Austin automatically reflected on his entire life up to that moment as he flicked the safety on his pistol. He could imagine most of the recruits were doing that as well. He only wished he had some other way of reminding them that they weren’t alone in this. But there was no time for any of that. With a soft beep, the cabin light turned green and the front hatch opened. Geonosis’s sandy orange-red landscape came into view, as did the gunnery nest. The troops in front had perhaps a full second to look at it before laser fire blasted through their helmets. “''Go!” Bowler shouted, prompting all the troops to charge forward. Austin barely took a step as a spray of laser fire ripped through the cabin. The squad ahead of him fell as though they’d tripped, others actually did trip over their bodies, and still he was able to move forward. The first two men to even exit the gunboat quickly took bolts as well. Whether they were dead or wounded, Austin couldn’t tell. All he could piece together in those moments was that they needed to deploy differently. “Move to the sides!” he ordered as another bolt whizzed past his ear. The troops who’d heard climbed off the ramp and ran out of vision either to the left or right. Austin watched each of them carefully, not realizing that he was walking over several bodies, until he could jump down the ramp himself. He lost sight of Bowler and chose to dive to the left, joining the surviving recruits and clones behind a metal Geonosian carving. It was in no way wide—certainly not wide enough for all of them—but it was the only cover they had before the gunnery ridge the Bugs had set up just prior to the cliff. While the overall layout of the field was consistent with the briefing, it had a lot more firepower than he’d expected. One of the sonic cannons mounted just beyond the gunnery bunker, which looked more like a small cave, fired a blast at his gunboat, missing by mere meters. The impact caused his ears to ring, temporarily deafening him to the combat zone. The blast must have also dazed him. He looked around at the other arriving gunboats. Their respective hatches opened and the troops poured out. Some of the recruits stopped after they deployed and stood in awe of the sheer firepower of the installation. The Geonosians targeted them first. The ones who kept moving also took up positions behind the rocks and metal spires. As Austin studied them, he realized just how few troops had actually survived deployment from his own transport. The fire from the bunker was unrelenting. If he wasn’t sure if the recruits looked fearful before, he was positive now. Some of them tried to give direction to the others, some of them tried in vain to assist fallen comrades, and some were curled up on the ground, paralyzed with fear. Anyone else who was still able was futilely attempting to return fire from behind their cover. Not even the clones could get in a good shot. A lot of them only sustained injuries in the process. Even when he was expecting a catastrophic battle, it was always worse than expected. Part II He turned his head towards the recruit immediately to his right, Corporal Driscoll, who appeared to be saying something. The ringing in Austin’s ears subsided with another nearby sonic blast. “I said: ''What the hell do we do now, sir?” Driscoll repeated, crouching behind the limited cover of a spire, deece in hand. Austin found his bearings back and surveyed the zone a second time. The small ridge ahead of them was the biggest obstacle on the plain, made up of wall-mounted blaster turrets. It didn’t look sturdy enough to stop the tanks, and the turrets could be destroyed easily with the proper aim. “Colonel Austin!” The call was faint, but distinct. Austin’s eyes immediately scanned the nearby area for the source. “Colonel Austin,” the voice repeated over the cacophony of the firefight. It was definitely a clone’s voice. After a few more seconds, Austin spotted Brig, who called his name again and waved frantically. “Commander Brig!” Austin yelled, glancing at the clone’s own surroundings. “Move your men up to that ridge!” Brig nodded without hesitation. “Okay, boys!” he said to his surviving comrades. “Spread out and follow my lead!” Brig and his men rose from their places and started forward. Austin turned back to the troops around him and pointed ahead. “Follow them!” he ordered, running to inform the troops taking cover to his right. He slid on his side to a halt beside them, fairly certain at least one bolt had nicked his backpack. “Did you catch that?” “Surprised you can hear anything out here!” a clone who Austin identified as Paxton replied, priming his Z-6. “This is gonna be a short fight if that extra armor doesn’t get here soon!” Austin swallowed hard. It was all too true. He’d lost too many men as it was, and it would only get worse once they advanced on the bunker. They needed cover fire. He turned his head towards their approaching artillery. Except there was none. Austin stared at the rise beyond their landing zone, and not one tank could be seen. Where was the 46th? They were supposed to have deployed along with them, and even if they were further behind, they should have at least been visible by now. “Say again, sir?” recruit medic Dholn asked, tending to a wounded trooper. Austin looked at him, his gut wrenching. It was bad enough he had to send them into this, but now he had to send them in without support fire. Already things weren’t going according to plan, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t lead. “Everyone who can, advance to the ridge!” Austin said again. The troopers slowly got to their feet, but none of the recruits moved. Repeating blaster fire pelted against the ground and rocks near them, and the recruits continued to hug their cover. “Did you hear me? I said push forward!” “Sir, I’m staying!” a recruit replied, an unhealthy level of fear in his voice. Paxton hit him on the shoulder. “You heard him, lads!” he shouted. “Clear this zone! We need to make way for the others!” Another recruit, Beck, gave the trooper a ludicrous look. “Do you see their firepower?!” he rebutted. “This rock is all we’ve got between us and the netherworld!” As though on cue, a brilliant crimson bolt shot over Austin’s head. They were scared for their lives, Austin understood it, and he hated himself for it. They were charging into a meat grinder. He couldn’t say that he would have been raring to follow that order himself, but hanging back near the LZ didn’t bode well for the attack. “You already know everything about this zone!” He gestured to the troops already on their feet to get going. “We’ve got more units coming in behind us! You stay here, we’re all fried!” He didn’t wait for their response. He charged forward, directly into what struck fear into the recruits’ hearts. It had a similar effect on Austin as soon as he saw the silhouettes of Geonosians and Droids alike manning the repeaters mounted on top of the cliff, some in the bunker and some in posts beside it. Green and red streaked across his field of vision in almost every direction, most of it towards him and much of it mowing down the troopers ahead of him. But a burst of blue laser fire was now coming from behind him. He didn’t need to look back, mainly because he didn’t want to. It seemed for every other step he took, three clones and recruits were hit. Another sonic blast impacted mere meters ahead of him. One of the bodies that the blast threw into the air was carrying components of one of their MH-8 mortars. Flecks of dirt and plastoid armor rained down on him. Austin grimaced. They didn’t even have heavy artillery, and now they were losing their own firepower. One of the recruit victims, now missing his left arm and part of his shoulder, landed hard on his back and began wailing. Austin forced himself to keep his eyes forward. He finally reached he ridge and dove onto the ground beneath its cover from the bunker. He felt reassured when he saw many other troops taking cover beside him. Most of its turrets had been destroyed, but the bunker overhead didn’t even seem scathed. He carefully crawled up the ridge and peered over the crest at the bunker. It was then he realized how difficult it would actually be to get past the ridge itself. They didn’t have the time or cover to make the climb. While he was thinking, Austin lowered himself back below the cover and scanned along the ridge at the others who had made it this far. The diversity between recruits and troopers was much more balanced this time around. Among the soldiers lying in cover, he spotted Ryben, keeping low with his deece alongside clone lieutenant Goch. Austin called to him over another round of sonic blasts. “Lieutenant Ryben!” he called, actually getting his attention the first time. “Do you recognize where we are?” Ryben nodded, squinting at the desert sun. “Yes, colonel!” he responded. “Right where we’re supposed to be, but no one else is!” He certainly didn’t need a reminder of that. When he looked back at the plain behind him, he saw all of his men through the crossfire. Most of them lay dead or wounded on the ground, and the rest were spread out across the limited cover of the rock formations. The advance was going slowly, much slower than anticipated. “We’ll hold out until Ghost Company gets here!” Austin yelled to everyone in earshot. Another few troops made it to the ridge, flopping down into the much-needed cover with their blasters in hand. “Glad you could make it, sir!” one of them said to him. It took Austin a moment to register that the trooper was Bowler. He’d taken cover right beside Paxton, who was attempting to lay down suppressive fire over the ridge. “Who else from Gauntlet made it?” Austin asked. “Brig and Spamcan, but that’s about it,” he replied, assessing the field ahead of them. “Try not to bleed, lads. Medics are just about all used up.” “I’m here too, sir,” Driscoll said from behind him. “So is Colly.” Austin rolled over to face him. “How many from your group made it?” Driscoll still looked terrified, but his mind was still on the plan—or what remained of it. “We’ve got the leftovers of Esk, Herf, and Leth squads.” “There’s probably more down the line,” Colly added, rifle firmly in hand. “but I can’t make any guarantees.” Austin looked down the line as Colly spoke and confirmed the report. At best, two platoons had made it to the ridge. The repeater fire was as fierce as ever, and there was no visible shortage of sonic cannon blasts. Austin looked back down the plain again, hoping in vain to see the 46th coming to their rescue. Not a single tank was in sight, and Ghost Company wouldn’t land until the heavy guns were taken out of commission. These two platoons were all they had to work with. “It’s not enough…” Austin muttered to himself. Brig came up to the ridge—nearly dragging Beck before he dropped him beside Driscoll—and looked to Austin. “I’ve moved a couple more squads up to this line, sir,” he reported, gesturing to the rear. “The Bugs’ fire scattered us all over the place, so there’s bound to be more available.” It wouldn’t do much; the plan was falling apart. They’d deployed too close to the bunker, and their artillery had deployed too far away. There weren’t enough men remaining. Numbers. That was what it all broiled down to. Kriffing numbers. It was the one thing they needed the most, and the one thing they didn’t have. “It’s not enough,” Austin repeated, a sinking feeling wrenching his gut. “It’s not enough.” “We’re not gonna last!” Beck cried, holding his helmet in place on his head with one hand. “We have no support or reinforcements!” “I’m afraid he’s right, sir,” Goch said, abandoning his damaged Z-6. “Ghost Company won’t deploy until the tanks take out the enemy armor, and no one knows where the vape the Forty-Sixth is.” “We got nothing but mounting casualties!” Beck shouted, almost hysterical. “The Bugs are killing us! It’s not fair! It’s not fussting fair!” “Get a grip, soldier!” Ryben reprimanded. “We’re not dead yet! We can still pack a punch with what we have.” Austin checked his pistol, which he hadn’t realized he was clutching so tightly his fingers became sore. He glanced at Brig, then at the mortars and blasters scattered across the plain behind them. With what we have… “Weapons!” he shouted. “Gather weapons! Deeces, dets, anything you can find!” Brig relayed the order to the others further down the line, and the soldiers, however cautiously, went over to their fallen comrades and gathered blasters and explosives. Austin kept his eyes on them until Driscoll ran past his peripherals. He shifted his attention towards him, finding him lifting an abandoned MH-8 onto his shoulders. Austin provided him with useless cover fire until he returned to the line with the mortar in tow. “Will this help, sir?” he asked, setting the metal tube onto the ground next to him. “It just might,” Austin replied, studying the weapon. It was exactly what they needed to advance with relative ease. At least one of them had paid attention in the briefing. “Get one of the engineers to help set it up.” Austin raised himself onto one elbow and called down the line. “Malachors! Bring up some Malachors!” The engineers were still on top of the leftovers of the plan too. More and more MH-8s began appearing along their defensive line, many of them with engineers already setting them up. Brig helped one of the recruits carry another one to an ideal firing position. “Come on, keep those Malachors coming!” he shouted, directing several other troops. “Engineers, get up here and start priming them! Double time!” Colly changed position next to Driscoll and began placing and priming the mortar. “This’ll pack a punch, all right!” the recruit exclaimed with a mischievous smirk. “Nice hustle, corporal!” Driscoll smiled cockily and helped lift the mortar into place. “I always was the fastest one around!” Austin grinned as well. When he looked back towards the bunker, a bright green flash came sailing just over the ridge. He ducked down reflexively and saw a sonic blast erupt in the corner of his eye. He turned his head towards it just in time to see Driscoll’s body flop back into the sand. Austin fought against the shock that was attempting to freeze his body in place. He quickly crawled closer to the engineer and activated the Malachor’s repulsors. “Now I just need to set the distance,” Colly said, punching numbers into the weapon’s small keypad, either ignoring or having not noticed the most recent casualty. Austin slowly lifted his head again just to see over the engineer. It appeared most of the other mortars were either at or near the same arming stage that they were. “Got it!” the recruit said, closing the ammunition feed panel. In perfect sync, the other engineers finished as well and turned to him for the go ahead. With a deep breath, Austin shouted, “Malachors! Clear the ridge!” “Fire in the hole!” the engineer shouted, with a chorus of like shouts following. “Fire in the hole!” One by one, the Malachors were thrust forward over the rise and everyone fell to the ground with their hands covering their heads. Austin felt the faint impact of the Malachors cementing themselves in the ground after traveling a meter ahead on their repulsors. Two moments later, they delivered their payload. Black smoke, metal fragments and red dirt blasted into the air like twisted fireworks. Austin performed a ten-count, then peered over what remained of the ridge, which was now more of a trench. More importantly, it gave them a clear path to the base of the bunker and the top of cliff. “That’s our cue, gentlemen!” Brig shouted. As though sitting on springs, the troops got up and vaulted across the former ridge towards the bunker. Part III The repeaters still blasted away at them, but now Austin’s men had a clear shot at the bunker. He ran towards the base of the cliff with Ryben, Brig, Bowler, Spamcan, Beck, Colly, and a few other recruits running beside him. He didn’t have time to check how many others made it. The bunker sat on the end of a cliff that extended out from the rest of the rock face, giving Austin and the others some cover from one of the side gunnery nests. Austin leaned into the cliffside and peered cautiously around the corner made by the rock, absent-mindedly pushing a trooper’s body out of the way. Just as the nearest gunnery nest came into view, felt a hand on his shoulder jerk him back behind cover as a spray of laser fire came in his direction. The hand belonged to Ryben, who was huddled into the cliffside with the others. “Keep your head where it belongs, sir!” he shouted. Even if Ryben did outrank him, Austin didn’t need that order. What he needed was a good visual before sending any more men forward. He crouched down beside the cliff and pulled his backpack in front of him. As he did so, he heard a familiar sound that sent a different feeling into his heart. He looked up and saw through the desert haze a squadron of Republic Gunships flying straight towards them. Ghost Company. They’d made it through. The drone of the gunships’ drive units grew louder as they swooped in to land. Austin smiled, immediately understanding why the sound had such a galvanizing effect on clones in the field. We can still win this. While he watched the desert-camouflaged troopers disembark from their transports, he found what he was looking for. Putting his backpack off to the side, he activated the surveillance probe and carefully through it out just beyond the cover. The holographic layout it sent back to his projector was fuzzy, but it gave them the recon he needed. “The bunker’s mounted right on the edge of the rise,” Austin said, making it visible to the others. “Two double-barrel repeaters and suppressive sonic cannon fire.” Brig crawled on his stomach and examined the layout. “They don’t have too much for cover,” he said. “It’d be history already if we just had some kriffing armor out here!” “We have everything we need to go from here, plus we have Ghost Company to help draw their fire. This is our chance to overpower it.” Austin put the projector in his lap and memorized the area while he reequipped his pistol. “Beck, Bowler, Spamcan. Let’s get into the war!” The soldiers got to their feet and brandished their blasters. “Take up positions just ahead and return fire on that nest. Brig and I will lay down cover while you advance.” Austin intentionally averted Beck’s eyes. He was sending him from one blast zone into another. Nearing the corner again, he primed his pistol. “Ready?” All three men nodded. With a deep breath, Austin rounded the corner and fired several shots with Brig towards the bunker. The Geonosian gunner was dissuaded only briefly, but it was enough of a window. “Go!” He ducked back behind cover as the three soldiers ran out to their respective positions. The repeater resumed, but now it was matched with Republic fire. That meant something, Austin told himself. “What’s the plan this time, sir?” Ryben asked. If there was any irritation in his tone, he was hiding it well. Austin glanced at the advancing reinforcements, then at Ryben. “We’re changing things up a bit. You’ll have enough defilade out there and this the only way we can break into Poggle’s weapons supply,” he responded. “Okay. Ryben, Alvarro, Goch; you’re next!” “You said it, sir. Why not just give us a blindfold?” Ryben asked, getting in position all the same. “This is a frinking firing squad, after all.” Austin tilted his head towards him while he prepared to repeat the maneuver. “It’s not like the Bugs are going to get tired of this!” He raised his blaster. “Covering fire!” A more focused collection of blue plasma bolts was sent up towards the nest as the next three men ran out across the rocky plain leading to the cliff. Goch let the two recruits ahead of him take the nearer defilade while he laid down his own cover fire. One of the Geonosians spotted him in that time and turned its sonic blaster on him. Beck and Bowler got in just behind, blasters on full-auto, and escorted him to better cover. Beck fell as they ran, but not before giving the Bug a bolt to its scrawny neck. Ghost Company was nearing the bunker, backed by Austin’s remaining men still on the plain. Their gunships lingered in their landing zone, providing much-needed cover to the wounded. Austin checked his projector again and spotted a potential solution. He was losing men at a rate that made him sick, but this chance was probably the best one he’d ever get. Brig, on his stomach with his rifle, gave him the nod of approval. “Colly,” he called. The engineer ran over from the other side of their cover. “Here, sir,” she answered. Austin held up the hologram for her to see. “You see that boulder, rocked loose just short of the rise?” “Yes, sir,” she said. “You need some fire discipline?” Austin nodded and set the projector down again. “There’s adequate defilade, and at that distance, you’ll have a clear shot at those gunners.” He moved to give her a clear running start. “Brig and I will draw their fire. Wait for my command.” Colly took a deep breath as she stood on the edge of their cover. Austin stepped over Brig’s position and raised his pistol. “Now!” Colly began her sprint, but Austin could only fire a shot before another spray of laser fire forced him to the ground. Colly had probably half the cover fire she was expecting, but found her position all the same. Brig fired until she made it, then looked to Austin. “Colonel, if your mother saw you do that, I think she’d be very upset,” he said. Austin gave him a look while he crawled back to cover. “I thought you were my mother.” The first troops of Ghost Company to made it to the base of the bunker, Commander Cody among them. They took up suppressive fire positions on both sides. Austin got back on his feet and nodded at Cody. “You know how to make an entrance, commander,” he commended. Cody held his deece close to his chest plate. “And you know how to set up a welcoming committee, colonel.” He surveyed the war-ravaged plain behind their position. “Sorry we’re late. We were waiting for the go ahead from the Forty-Sixth. I’m assuming they never made it?” Austin shook his head. “Nothing. No armor within range. I was afraid we’d never see you without long-range support.” “We arranged a landing time whether we got confirmation or not,” Cody informed him. “I’m glad we did.” Then, he looked at the body count along the field. “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to postpone the attack. Do you have enough men left?” Austin shuddered involuntarily. Did he have enough men? Did he have too few? He looked across the plain again himself. The survivors were scattered, but they were still fighting. He turned his head back towards the guns overhead in time to see Colly fire a shot directly into a weak point in the gunnery nest, causing it to fall apart. The repeating blaster fell down the slope with a maroon-colored Bee One following. One of the Geonosians in the nest attempted to fly off, but fell after Colly delivered a shot into its abdomen. All the troops he’d sent forward began pouring fire into the open spot. Austin studied the slope the droid was tumbling down. It was just the window they needed. The numbers didn’t matter. His troops’ resolve was enough to claim all of Geonosis. Austin inhaled deeply and turned back to Cody. “We have enough power between our remnants to advance,” he said, for the first time in this mission, with confidence. “But any help you can provide is more than welcome.” Cody visibly readied himself. “Just tell us where to shoot, sir,” he responded. Austin gave him a brief grin. As if I needed to. Turning towards the others, he pointed to the opening. “Akk Entrance One!” he shouted. “Right here!” “You heard him, lads!” Brig called, motioning his hand forward. “Let’s move!” The troops around him stood and charged forward much more readily this time. Whatever confidence they had left, it counted for something. Colly kept providing cover as Austin and the others scaled the cliff. She gave them a thumbs up as they passed. At the top of the cliff, several AATs and Proton Cannons came into view, positioned a short distance beyond the main bunker. The layout was almost identical to the recon they received for the briefing. Austin grimaced at the irony of how useless that information was to them now. “Leave the big guns to us!” Cody said, splitting off from Austin’s group. “Take out those bunkers! Boil, Waxer, Wooley, cover them! Everyone with launchers, rally to me!” Austin looked to his left and spotted two sunken-in pathways, coming from different directions and both leading into the bunker. He motioned for Ryben, Bowler, Paxton, and the three troopers Cody sent with him to follow. Up close, the bunker looked like it was constructed using both metal and Geonosian spire as camouflage. The dugouts and adjacent doorway were dead giveaways at this angle, however. The Bugs apparently accounted for that with the pair of Bee Twos standing over the dugouts. Austin nodded to Waxer, who supplied a droid popper for the duet. They were down by the time Austin and the others huddled behind a short wall covering the exit of the nearest dugout. Austin stepped out to allow the others to take the cover, staying crouched. “Let’s clear them out!” he said, holding his hand out for a det. Paxton tossed him one, then armed one for himself. Both were lobbed into the trench in rapid succession. After the initial shockwave, a smoking Bee One head bounced off of Bowler’s helmet. None of them seemed even slightly phased when Austin ordered them to cover the entrance to the bunker. Two Bugs made the mistake of emerging investigate the commotion. The troops took them out with swift efficiency. Austin looked back behind him, briefly noting the quick work Cody’s men were making of the Sep artillery. Rocket launchers weren’t what he was searching for. “Dole! Is Dole still back there?” he called to the others who had just scaled the cliff. Alvarro came into view first. “Yes, colonel!” he replied, laying down suppressive fire on the droids further down the plain. “Get back to the bunker! I’ll cover you!” In the midst of Alvarro’s bursts of blaster fire, Dole made his way onto the upper plain, his distinctive orange armor almost blending with the terrain. Austin made a mental note to commend Alvarro afterwards. “Come on, Dole!” Austin shouted as he jumped into the trench. Dole must have gone on full sprint. By the time Austin reached the bunker doorway, he was already behind him in defensive position. “Charge!” Ryben said, tossing a smaller det through the doorway. Another shockwave and a plume of dark orange smoke was emitted from the doorway. “Clear!” Austin said, pushing Dole ahead of him. “Okay, Dole. Do it!” Dole leveled his flamethrower in the doorway… Austin forced himself to look at the fireball that spewed out of the other side of the bunker, soon followed by flaming Geonosians, shrieking and flying erratically like the angry insects they were. One by one, they dropped to the ground. “Let ‘em burn…” Ryben muttered. Austin looked at him, suppressing the urge to swallow. “Say again, lieutenant?” Ryben met Austin’s eyes without even blinking. “I said we need to clear out the other guns, sir.” Austin held his gaze for perhaps ten seconds, and then nodded. “You take point, lieutenant,” he ordered. They were off without hesitation, charging the droids in the gunnery nest twenty meters away from the inferno that used to be the main bunker. Austin watched them longer than he should have in a combat zone, especially Ryben. That brief flicker of bloodlust he saw in Ryben was, needless to say, unsettling. It was something he rarely saw in the clones in his experience, and it was something he certainly didn’t want to see in his men. But it was what war did to the mind. A soldier was given orders to kill, and his friends were being killed around him. The soldiers on the other side were killing without sympathy, so why should his side show any decency? Austin shook the thought away and climbed out of the bunker. As he stood, he came face-to-face with a Bee One, its E-5 pointed right at his chest. He had only a moment to actually look at its head. One blue flash later, it was replaced by a smoking stalk at the top of the droid’s body. Austin turned his head towards Colly, who was standing several paces off with her smoking rifle. “Are you all right, colonel?” she asked, worriedly. The astonishment of the moment took a second to wear off. Austin nodded before he could actually speak again. “Yes… Yes, I’m fine. I… good work.” Colly nodded and turned her attention towards the remaining gunnery nest, which Ryben and a few other recruits and clones were clearing out with little resistance. Seeing the one part of the original plan actually taking place, Austin had to perform a mental check to remember what came next. “I need a high-powered transmitter!” he called to the passing ranks of soldiers running by. “Is there a transmitter nearby?” “I’ve got one, sir!” Boil volunteered, jogging back towards him with a Republic backpack in hand. Austin felt something tug at his mind as he unpacked the equipment. He didn’t even register the charred bodies strewn over the upper plain, some of them still running. He raised the bulky comlink to his mouth. “Point Rain Command, this is Gauntlet Leader,” he said. “We have taken the artillery post and Akk One is open. I say again, Akk One is open. Send in the rest of the platoons. I’m waiting to retire my companies.” “Roger, Gauntlet Leader,” captain Breaker’s voice replied on the other end. “Relaying intel. Stand by. Twenty-twelfth remainder in bound to your position.” “Acknowledged.” Austin lowered the mouthpiece and left the backpack where it sat. He walked over to the pathway Colly had made for them. Cody’s troops were clearing out the remaining artillery as though they were a unit of one-man tanks. Flak cells were erupting left and right, sending the remaining droids and Bugs into disarray. Most of the droids and some of the Geonosians were making a run for it; the other Geonosians surrendered. The smarter ones, he decided. “Colonel!” Brig called from behind him. The commander ran up to him with Goch and Alvarro at his sides. “The post is ours, sir! All repeaters and cannons have been taken out of commission, and the enemy is in full retreat. We did it.” “Good work,” Austin responded in a heavy exhale, just as relieved as Brig probably was. “Hold position.” Brig nodded and ran off to direct the rest of the force down on the lower plain. Goch and Alvarro both saluted Austin as they passed, but he didn’t notice. His eyes were fixed on the lower plain, where the rest of his men were, not nearly as many of them still standing as he wanted. Some of the wounded were already being loaded onto the gunships, but it wasn’t the motion that got to him. It was the lack of motion for the quantity of bodies. At that moment, his tactical mindset was switched off. He grasped the true cost. He knew when he’d been handed this assignment that the task was insurmountable, that the casualties would be heavy. But knowing that didn’t make any difference whatsoever. Nothing could prepare him for it. His knees unexpectedly gave out, and he slowly set himself onto the orange sand. Colly was at his side in an instant. “Colonel? Are you all right?” she inquired. “Yes, yes,” he repeated with a hasty nod. “I’m fine.” Colly looked at him for a handful of seconds before setting her rifle down and taking a seat beside him, observing the view for herself. Even she couldn’t shrug it off this time. Ryben eventually joined them after a minute or two, giving them both a respectful salute. Austin expected him to make some shy remark that the plan had actually worked after all. That remark came, but from a clone’s voice instead. “Quite the attack strategy, colonel. I must say, I’m impressed.” Cody plopped down on the side of Austin opposite from Colly and Ryben and removed his helmet. Austin glanced at him; a small trickle of blood ran from his nose to his chin. He didn’t look as impressed as he sounded. “My strategy?” he said flatly, reminding himself that Cody was probably used to these losses. “No, commander. My plan fell apart the moment we deployed. What won the day was my troops’ valor. They kept up with a plan that only barely resembled the original.” “With respect, sir,” Ryben offered. “It was you who continued to lead us even when things seemed impossible. You saw how we were scattered at the LZ. If it wasn’t for you, we’d still be there, probably with a thousand holes in each of us.” “He’s right, sir,” Colly added before Austin could respond. “You continued to lead us without a plan and we pulled through. You improvised in a blast zone and we might have just taken Geonosis back already.” Austin shook his head. Any reassurance he could possibly feel was cancelled out by another glance at the body count in front of him. “Leadership is based on strategy. When one fails, the other falls with it, and with it the troops suffer as a result. I let that play out to its fullest extent here.” The sound of gunship engines, distant cannon fire and burning munitions filled the silence between them. He knew they were right, but he would never shake the feeling that he could have done better. He could have saved just a few more lives. He could have taken the bunker just a few minutes sooner. Just maybe there was a way that he could have done more. “Casualties are a part of war, colonel,” Cody spoke after a long pause. “It’s unavoidable. And a plan will always have a thousand ways to go wrong, each one just as possible as the next. Strategy on a map doesn’t count half as much as it does in the field. What you say is true, it was the valor of your soldiers that took this post, but a soldier’s valor is only as strong as the officer who leads them.” Austin met his eyes. He didn’t have the strength to admit it, but it was all true. The plan was a formality. The field was the real test. He saw it through as best as he could, even if he couldn’t take everyone with him. “I fight to protect my men, commander,” was all he could say at that point. “We fight to protect the Republic and its citizens,” Cody rebutted, standing back up. “It will never feel like it at the time, but we save lives in what we do. Not all of the ones we want to, but enough.” Cody walked away to the squad awaiting his orders. Austin looked to the soldiers sitting beside him. That brief instance of bloodlust he saw in Ryben hadn’t lingered, and Colly actually seemed inspired. The only one who really blamed him was himself. It was war, after all. Maybe that was what got to him. He was positive about one thing Cody said: it didn’t feel like they accomplished anything. Ryben and Colly both saluted him. “It was an honor, colonel,” Colly said sincerely. Austin returned their salute, then reached for his canteen. They were good people, all of his troops. Good people caught in poor circumstances. The war. The war didn’t make any sense at the time, and probably never would further down the road. Carnage and destruction was all it really was. The only good that could possibly come from it was the lives that it spared. And those who got them back on their feet. Unscrewing the canteen’s cap, Austin replenished the depleted moisture in his mouth. “Still,” Ryben said, apparently hoping changing the subject. “You can’t deny that view.” Austin lowered his canteen and reluctantly turned his gaze back towards the lower plain—towards the entire area. “It is quite a view.” Category:Blog posts